Mike C

I had mine drilled out at a machine shop for $25. I used Moroso studs as well and I think it told you the interference on package? Maybe not, but a call to Summit should net that. From that you can deduce what size bit you need.

I bolted my Carter carb pump to the passenger side upright that supports the control arm. This works better with an R180 than the 200 however, but I did get it done.

I have a set from the "bad" assembly If that will help you, let me know and I will measure and count splines, etc. I have them disassembled in the garage. Paid for them before I knew there were two types...

Hey, a real reason for 2+2! Actually, there is a lot of room in the Z if you keep the stock seats. They got back further and are lower than anything else I have seen. Good luck!

I have seen a modified mount in the rear that kept the 300zx cover, but I don't remember whose car it was on. The finned cover is neat so it would be nice to maintain it.

Awesome, those are some really impressive numbers! But just to defend the tech guys, a guy died in Seguin, TX last week in a blown alcohol Camaro he had just bought. The car had gone as fast as 7.45 before he bought it, but he panicked or something on a pass gone awry and slammed into the sand trap, cartwheeling and over end. Died right there. Looks like his belts broke. He had no competition license or anything as well. No parachute at least that I heard of, so there is a reason for safety equipment/tech and most of it's probably worthwhile...

I contemplated one of these for a Z swap for awhile, nice balance of power and price. It is just like a GN motor without a turbo for all intents and purpose. A free flowing exhaust, a mild cam upgrade, and chip should get you close to 230. Pocket porting the heads and needle bearing rockers should put you around 250. If you don't have a motor/trans yet, check out Billy Graham Camaro/Firebird salvage. When I spoke with him a year or so ago, he had a '97 'bird motor with 7k miles on it. Complete with all accessories, exhaust, fuel, wiring, computer and T5 trans with driveshaft for $1500.

Cam and lifters will set you back $80 US for a Crane Energizer, go with the 272 for a mostly stock motor. A Weiand 8004 or Edelbrock performer intake manifold is $100 US, a set of shorty headers will also be $100 US, and the rest I would spend on ignition. I like the ready-to-run MSD billet distributor for $250 US which will give you a magnetic pickup you can add a CDI to at a later date. Which all is a little more than you wanted to spend, but should be worth an easy 50hp.

Even though the stroke is the same, crankshafts for different displacement engines have significantly different counterweights because of the differences in piston weight from bore to bore. You can use either the 307 or 305 crank in a 350 block to make either a 327 or a 350. The 307 crank will be easier to balance than the 305 because the bore is larger thus the pistons heavier. Figure on spending double what a standard balance costs if it needs Mallory Metal added. It's just hard to beat a 350 power per dollar since parts are SO cheap.

It is possible to get 300hp from a 307, but I would spend your money on a 350. The added cost of the 350 is offset by being the cheapest to buy hard parts for like pistons, rings, bearings while the 307 is one of the least common small blocks in terms of years produced. The 307 will never flow well because of its small bore and you are limited to 1.94" intake valve. Nothing inherently wrong with a 307, it was GMs first attempt at a torquey economical motor that morphed eventually into the 305. (307 is same stroke as 327 and 305 same stroke as 350. 307 will make more HP than a 305, but so will a 2.8 )

Cool wheel. I haven't looked at their wheels since I bought mine. I ordered through Summit a 16x7 with 4" backspacing and I think they were $169 each. Took about 5 weeks to get as they were a custom order. They have by far the most options for a Z, since they ACTUALLY make a wheel that fits... I put billet stars on my '84 Corvette and felt the same way at the time. I've run Centerline wheels for $15 years with virtually no problems. I have a set of AutoDrags that leak through the middle, but that's not a problem on the billet wheels as they are welded.

The easiest way to tell is that the stub axle seal/bearing on the 200 is installed on a machined part of the housing and on a 180 it is bolted on.

6x are definitely a Pontiac head. There are several different versions that all have different combustion chamber volumes. They were found on 400 and 455 inch Pontiacs.

Check the oil first. This is the source of many woes. If you don't have one yet, get abook on syncing the carbs and get a Uni-Sync, about $25 from Summit or Jeg's. Definitely sounds like you are running lean, so check for a vacuum leak first, power booster maybe? Notorious if the car has been sitting for awhile.

Having taken apart and reassembled many used GM rears,you should have no problem replacing a seal and tightening the nut back down. You should snug it up until there is no fore-aft play, without the ring gear that is about 10-15in lbs to rotate. It is really pretty forgiving. It would be assinine to have to disassemble the entire diff and re-set the gears to replace a pinion seal. There is no need to check tooth pattern either, as you have changed neither the pinion depth (controlled with a shim between the pinion head and the root bearing, nothing to do with parts towards the front) or the differential case which is located by shims outboard of the carrier bearings. Either you have tightened it too far and actually damaged the bearings or not far enough and the thing is loose, ie it clunks. Does the noise change whether in drive or coast? The crush sleeve is for preloading the bearing. It is basically a separator between the large (root for lack of a better term) and the small pinion bearings. It is possible to run with out it, but LONG TERM reliability might be a factor, it would not have started making noise right away. I have even re-used them before, just put a metal rod through the middle and smack it on each side. Re-install as new. Wouldn't do it on a high dollar diff, but the rear in my Jimmy has over 50k miles on it that way. After breaking the 3rd r&p I got tired of buying new parts. As far as your noise, start with the easy things. Make sure you didn't leave any tools attached, make sure the ujoint straps are tight, make sure the wheels are snug, etc. Then move on to the diff itself. Removve the driveshaft and check for play. Then loosen the nut a little and check again and so on. With the rear tires off the ground, it should be fairly easy to rotate the pinion by hand unless the bearings are binding. If I had to guess, I'd say you didn't get it tight enough since the yoke is a press fit to some degree and you might have to armstrong it a little more than you might like. You did put the big washer back in, right?

Randy, How do you pull that off? Does the Datsun T5 use the same input length as a Ford or Chevy V8 T5? Do they have the same bearing retainer? The shifter is further back on the American car T5 than the Z aren't they? Trans mounts since the Camaro trans is tilted 17 deg? Obviously driveshaft yoke. I have 3 Camaro T5s and if all I needed was a bellhousing and a clutch disc. That would be too easy, sounds too good to be true...

If you do reuse the bolts, which is pretty common, you should at minimum replace all of the nuts. ARP should be torqued with a stretch gauge, but usually one is not available and they are torqued with a wrench.

Just remember that torque loads are a 24 hour continuous rating and not a shock load rating. Shock is what kills the trans, not continuous power output. Also take into consideration your driving style, what you plan on using the car for and the size/type of tire you run/will run. Usually, the lower the first gear numerically (higher physically), the stronger the gear. That's why the old Mustang and 3.27 first in the T5 but the WC switched to the same gear as the Camaro, the 2.95 first.

You could use an 84-88 Corvette bellhousing for the Tremec. I thought about this for a long time in my Camaro. My conclusion was the Tremec 5 speed and stock mechanical clutch linkage with a steel scattershield and 30# steel flywheel. I recommend the same setup with your Z. As far as the T56, you have to have the Camaro bellhousing. I am not a believer in 6 speeds for a carbureted car. They just don't allow ENOUGH rpm for cruising IMO. The Tremec has better gear ratio spread I believe and a .75 overdrive with a 3.70 gear is a 2.75 final drive ratio! With the 3.54 it drops to a 2.6. The most common upgrade in the Camaros is the switch to 4.10 which makes the .5 OD a little more justifiable. I agree with you on buying a new trans unless the used one is basically a gift.

Horsepower is SAE net. It has never been measured at the rear wheels in new cars. SAE gross is the engine which were the numbers used up until 1971 (or 70, I forget but think it's 71. Power went down in 71, but that's because compression ratios dropped that year.) SAE net is the engine as installed in the car. All accessories and the car's full exhaust.

That's the standard GM HEI module. '75-'85 except for electronic spark control vechicles. '75-'79 to be safe. I saved this from years ago when I found it, so here it is in its entirety to give the author credit...If the diagrams don't work out, shoot me an email and I'll send you the HTML file. Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 12:49:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Andrew Levy <allevy@oboe.aix.calpoly.edu> X-Sender: allevy@violin.aix.calpoly.edu To: Z-car <z-car@CS.Princeton.EDU> Subject: <all> GM HEI Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: snd@CS.Princeton.EDU Precedence: bulk I have had several people email me for directions on the wiring of a four pin GM HEI module and a 280 dist, so here it is. Many of us have heard the down side of these modules as being limited to 5000 rpm on an 8 cylinder eng. Actually these modules are not limited by the operating frequency but rather the original coils were the limiting factor. The original coils where mounted in the top of the distributor cap, where the temperature is quite high. Also as the frequency increases the amount of time for the primary winding to cool decreases, so the effect is as the temp of the coil rises so does the resistance in the coil, which decreases the output. This is why MSD claims that if you replace the coil in the cap with there Blaster coil it will increase the max rpm to 6000. This setup with a MSD blaster coil can work to 7500 rpm on a six cylinder engine. --------------- / / W ------------- /C G/ /B W= positive lead from the pickup C= negative side of the coil G= negative lead from the pickup B= positive side of the coil First, mount the mod to a piece of aluminum .060in - .125in thick. Make sure that you use the silicone grease that comes with the mod. I typically mount the mod to the bottom coil bracket bolt. The following wiring directions are for 240 z models. There are two black with white tracer wires. For convenience, I connect the short one to the + side of the coil. Now connect the longer black and white wire with the green and white wire to the mods terminal B. Then a wire is connected from the coils negative terminal to modules C terminal. Here are some tips for swapping the distributors. Before you remove the old dist turn the engine to 10 degrees before TDC, make sure it is on the compression stroke by observing the direction of the rotor, it should be pointing at the number one spark plug lead. When installing the new dist, turn the dist body so that the #1 spark plug lead is lined up with the rotor. In both cases you may want to mark the distributor bodies with the location of the number one spark lead, so that you don't have to keep installing the cap to check for its location. If this is done the timing should be set at approximately at 10 degrees BTDC, which should allow the engine to be started so a timing light can be used. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Andy Levy (allevy@oboe.aix.calpoly.edu) California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 19:49:02 -0800 (PST) From: Andrew Levy <allevy@violin.aix.calpoly.edu> To: Z-car <z-car@CS.Princeton.EDU> Subject: ignition - HEI Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: snd@CS.Princeton.EDU Precedence: bulk Here are the details on the HEI ignition system that I'm running. Sorry about the delay with this info. I have been too busy filling sand bags trying to save my property from the severe flooding here in central CA. About three years ago I built a L28 for a friends 70. I intially set it up with a MSD 6A and a 76 dist. After a month or so the MSD failed. So in order to get the Z on the road again I went down to the local autoparts store and got an HEI module, it cost about $25 dollars. Went back to the hooked it up and realized that it worked every bit as good as the MSD. I have used HEI mods. in many applications before, but never compared them to other electronic ignitions. Here are some benefits to this system. First, the stock tachometer will work with out any extra devices. Second, they are sold everywhere and only cost $20 - $30 dollars. Third, they seem to be more reliable than the aftermarket ignitions. The installation is quite easy and should cost less then $100 dollars complete. The parts needed are a magnetic pickup reluctor type of distributor, and a four pin HEI module (Standard ignition pn # LX-101) or equivalent, no ballest resistor is needed. First you need to determin the polarity of the wires going to the distributors pickup. Some have a red and a green wire, the red is the positive. If you have one with two green wires or you can't tell what color they are you will need to test them. This can be done by rotating the dist. shaft the same direction as it would be turned by the engine and use a volt meter to establish the polarity. This system generaters AC current so look for a positive reading when the raised portion is approaching the pick up and negative when it departs. You could try to establish the polarity by starting the engine and use a timinglight to check each combination, the one that gives you the most retarded timing should be correct. Below is a drawing of a average HEI module, the letters refer to the pins. I mounted the HEI mod. on a piece of aluminum , sheet .o6o" thick which bolts to the fender via. the bottom coil bracket bolt. Remove the factory ballest res. and locate the two black-white wires, short and long and the green-white wire. The longer black-white wire will connect to the positive side of the coil. The short black-white wire will be connected to the green-white wire. A piece of 14-16 gauge wire will need to be run from the positive side of the coil to pin B on the module. Another piece of wire will need to be run from the coils negative to pin C on the module. The positive wire from the distributors pickup connects to pin W and the neg. from the dists. pu. connects to pin G. I connected a ground wire from a dist. hold down bolt to the HEI bracket. Make sure you use the silicone sealer that comes with the module between the bracket and the mod. If the the module is not grounded well it will fail. /------------------- HEI module -> / / W C / G / - - - - - - B / dist. + // / - batt. - + This setup will not work with all coils. It works best with a MSD blaster coil. You can mail order these coils from Summit and Jegs for about $25. I have gotten distributors from wrecking yards for $25-$40 dollars. The distributors where used in datsun 810's and Zs. These dist. are very reliable electrically, but not so mechanically. There is a plastic cage that holds three, 3mm ball bearings half of the time it is broken or the balls have pitted the the thin spring steel races. This only effects the operation of the vaccum advance. I don't run vac. adv. with S.U. carbs. So in this case you could solve this problem with epoxy. Another solution is to replace the bearing and cage with bushings made of brass bronze or teflon PTFE. I have also modified these dist. to use torrington bearings.

Good observation on the seats. I have a set of Eclipse seats in my car ~90 model. I had a set of Talon seats that were more adjustable (sport seat) but not as attractive. These seats look great in a Z as they have the same shape as the stock seats. Installation is EASY. Front bolt holes of the track lines up wit the body. Cut the foot off the back of the track and weld a stud on that lines up with the stock Z mount hole. Tighten bolts. Done. Actually, you have to cut the lever off that is for rear seat passengers to flip the seat up as well. I'm 6'0" and If I was any taller this wouldn't work. They are too wide to go back any further than the Eclipse tracks let them go. The Eclipse seats are the same shape without the adjustable head pad. They both have the adjustable lumbar, but only the Talon seats I found (and I haven't seen another set) have the adjustable thigh support. All of this is mechanical so no need for electrics or pneumatics to be adapted. I paid $40 for the pair of Eclipse seats and $100 for the Talon seats.

Tremec 5 speed and run a conventional flywheel and clutch. Anything that makes 400 lb ft of torque doesn't need 6 gears if it only weighs 2500# 3.54 gears and 3.27 first will launch like 3.90 with the 6 speed, and the .72 overdrive of the Tremec is actuall more carbureted engine friendly. Tremecs are about $1700 new plus clutch, flywheel and shifter. Figure $2500 tops for all new parts. If it's a mild motor, a T5 is a pretty good choice IMO.

Bearing damage just on the rod side is often a sign of detonation. Your cast piston may have been weakened from that as well. Forged pistons are a no brainer, but for a steet motor, I think a lighter set of I beam rods is probably a better choice.

I have heard what SleeprZ is saying as well. BUT, in small block chevy land, a T5 is consider a sweet, smooth shifting tranny. I have a '79 ZX 5 speed in my 240 and except for the overdrive, I prefer the 4 speed for drivability. The T5 has MUCH better gear ratios in my opinion with a lower first gear and more overdrive than any of the Nissan 5 speeds. I will run said T5 as soon as I find one...